It’s Not That Easy Being Green: The Environmental Dimension of the European Union’s Sports Policy

Arnout Geeraert*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This article starts from the assumption that the European Union (EU) could play a leading part in reducing the negative environmental impacts of sport. The extent to which the EU fulfills its potential in this regard depends upon the integration of environmental objectives in EU sports policy. The article has a dual purpose. First, it analyzes the integration of environmental objectives at the different stages of the policy process. Second, it identifies the main barriers to the integration of environmental protection and explores the way forward. It is shown that establishing an Expert Group focusing solely on mitigating the environmental impact of sport is a suitable strategy for integrating environmental considerations at the heart of the decision-making process.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)62-81
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Sport and Social Issues
Volume40
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2016
Externally publishedYes

Funding

EU documents indicate that green budgeting was implemented only once, namely within the framework of the Preparatory Action in sport, which constituted annual funding by the Commission intended to prepare future EU actions in sport, when co-funding to the organization of the 10th European Youth Olympic Festival in Tampere (July 2009) included requirements regarding sustainable development ( European Commission, 2011a ). The first fully fledged funding program for sport-specific EU actions, adopted in December 2013, foresees financial support for not-for-profit European sport events ( Council of the EU, 2013b ). However, environmental criteria are not among the award criteria used to assess these events ( European Commission, 2014 ). Green budgeting has thus not been broadly implemented in EU sports policy. Because the beneficiaries of EU funding in the area of sport are public bodies or civil society organizations active in the area of grassroots sport ( European Commission, 2011e ), and thus not international sports organizations, the prospects of green budgeting having a substantial impact on the sports sector are a priori rather poor.

Keywords

  • environmental policy integration
  • European Union
  • sports policy

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